Lenny Dykstra arrested on grand theft charges

Former major league baseball player Lenny Dykstra was arrested for investigation of grand theft, a day after he was charged with felony fraud.

Dykstra was arrested at about 8 p.m. Thursday at his home along the 4300 block of Hayvenhyurst Avenue on suspicion of trying to buy a stolen car.

His arrest came a day after Dykstra, in an unrelated federal complaint, was charged with embezzling from a bankruptcy estate. He faces up to five years in federal prison if convicted.

As a member of the 1986 World Champion Mets, Dykstra was one of major league baseball's biggest stars. He was a standout outfielder with the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets. Then after retiring, he became a local entrepreneur as the owner of a carwash and other local businesses.

But now, Dykstra is behind bars. Federal prosecutors say that he sold $400,000 worth of belongings that he allegedly stole out of his multi-million-dollar mansion after having declared bankruptcy back in 2009.

"It alleges that Mr. Dykstra, after filing for bankruptcy, stole, hid, and destroyed more than $400,000 of property that should have been used to pay off creditors of his bankruptcy estate," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan Davis.

According to the FBI, Dykstra stole the items out of the mansion in Ventura County without permission from the court-appointed trustee. He then sold the items by the truckload for cash. The criminal complaint filed Wednesday also alleges that he sold sports memorabilia and ripped out a $50,000 granite sink to reinstall in an office in Camarillo.

"A high-end desk that he sold and then ended up getting posted on eBay and stoves and a number of other items that were, in essence, stripped from the $18 million estate," described Davis.

As of Friday, Dykstra was being held at the L.A. County Jail in downtown L.A. on $500,000 bond.